GM’s Toolbox – Tarot Cards Can Give NPCs Depth

Using tarot cards as the source of inspiration and giving characters depth was the recent topic of conversation with some fellow gamers. Although I wrote this a little over two years ago, it is still relevant. In fact, I use the tarot cards regularly to help flesh out NPCs, give a little extra depth to characters or use them to help establish connections between characters. We all need inspiration and the tarot is a great tool for all gamemasters and writers to have in their toolbox. I hope you enjoy the article and I’d love to hear your thoughts. So, without further ado, GM’s Toolbox – Tarot Cards Can Give NPCs Depth.

Good gamer friends of mine, Andrea and Will, recently convinced me to purchase a tarot deck and a book titled Tarot for Writers and what an amazing journey I have undergone in the ensuing weeks. I used to use and read tarot cards in my younger years so, I am moderately familiar with the suits, symbols and generalized meaning of the elements on the cards and the suits. The combination of the cards with this book and their tutelage has been a great source of inspiration for me.

Whether or not you believe in the metaphysical aspects of tarot cards has no bearing on their use as an inspirational and creative tool. Evaluate the cards as a tool based on what the results are not from any preconceived notions. You’ll be very surprised how your creativity is inspired.

Let me first outline a couple of things this wonderful book contains. Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner contains a wide variety of very useful information for writers of all genres and skill levels, but what I have found to be the most useful are a few of the structured methodologies and the card description chapter. The book contains a variety of different methods to employ that can assist in creating a wide variety of elements for a story, a game, and defining characters amongst many other things. In particular, I have gotten some mileage out of the chapters that pertain to characters and settings. Each of which I have used independently and jointly together. I will cover settings and creating scenes in future articles. Andrea and Will walked me through a fun exercise to create a Victorian era social club replete with prominent characters (NPCs) and supporting characters (minor NPCs) all of which we interconnected in some way.

The cards are drawn to define each specific elements and each card we drew always seemed to be spot on and more than appropriate for a given character’s element. That leads me to the last and biggest section of the book, description of the cards. Tarot for Writers addresses the following areas for each card in the deck.

Putting all of this into action is very easy! Let’s say you want to create a few notable NPCs for a roleplaying game. You can follow these simple steps (a deviation from the book) for each notable and supporting NPC you want to have in a particular story or location and when you are done you’ll have some nicely defined personalities to insert into your game. The card drawn for each element will give you the symbology and prompts to work with. From my experience, I have found the best thing for me has been to draw the card, read the classic interpretation and write down what comes to my mind first. If the classic interpretation doesn’t spark anything, I next move to the keywords and even the writing prompts for inspiration.

Shuffle your tarot deck thoroughly (cards should be both inverted and upright) Prepare your writing space (create blocks of 4 lines for each character) Write down the type/occupation of the characters on the first line of each block Draw 1 card – Define overarching characteristics of this character Draw 1 card – Define this character’s motivation(s) Roll a die to determine who this character has relationships with Draw 1 card – Relationship 1 – Define the relationship between these two people Draw 1 card – Relationship 2 – Define the relationship between these two people

Following these eight easy steps and you can quickly give depth and substance to what might otherwise be nameless and meaningless NPCs. It also lets you connect together a large or small group of notable NPCs for your players to encounter. How you use these NPCs is solely at your discretion. These NPCs can serve as a framework that you might want to further flesh out at some other point in time. The last thing to do, if and when the need arises, is to name your newly minted NPCs. The following example is taken from the Victorian social club that Andrea, Will and I created over the New Year’s weekend.

If you or your players ever feel at a loss for direction or fictional inspiration, draw a card and see what it prompts in your mind. It’s oddly amazing how the card drawn speaks to you and what it can inspire you to create at the table! The cards can aid you in fleshing out virtually any aspect of your game or characters; regardless if you are a gamemaster or player.

If you think this is something you would like to use in your game preparation routine, I would encourage you to stroll on over to Amazon and do a little shopping. Tarot decks can vary greatly in price and theme. My recommendation is to find a theme that appeals to you. The iconography should speak to you in some way. Once you find a theme (google is your friend) that appeals to you, make your purchase and don’t forget to grab the book too! Tarot for Writers is now a staple tool in gamemaster toolbox!

I do recommend that if you intend to use Corrine Kenner’s book to interpret your cards that you purchase a deck that makes use of traditional symbolism. This will make working with the book easier and expedite the creation of your NPCs. Using a deck that deviates from tradition symbols and suits could impede your ability to take full advantage of the tarot deck and Corrine’s book. If you’re familiar with reading tarot cards, the theme is less of an issue when you know what the cards, suits, and symbols mean.

Thank you for the comment. You’re right, this methodology can be applied to character creation of all sorts. Everything from roleplaying to story writing and even to screen play writing. The process allows you to give your characters real meaningful depth and substance from a few simple card draws. I’d love to hear how you use this method in the future.

Nice post! I just bought Tarot for Writers a few minutes ago. Excited to see what they’ve got to offer. Last year, I read about Dan Harmon’s story circle (basically, a simplified codification of the hero cycle), and decided to see what happened if I turned his 8 steps into a story-generating Tarot spread.

If you haven’t read these articles on the 8 steps of his story circle, I recommend them. Then give the tarot cards a whirl. Basically, 1 (or two) cards on each of the 8 steps of the circle. It’s a pretty fun exploration.

All this reminds me of the story of how Philip K. Dick apparently used the I Ching to write the outline the entirety of Man In The High Castle.

Thanks for the feedback and the great suggestions for further reading. I’ll be sure to look into it this weekend.

Glad to hear you purchased that book. I think you’ll find a treasure of great information, useful ideas and of course the most useful chapter is the meanings of the cards. I’d love to hear about your exploration into using the cards more.